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An efficient, effective and informative administration looking after the public housing service will provide homes, helpful programs and opportunities for the needful. The four winners of NAHRO's Award in Excellence in Administrative Innovation are the fraud recovery techniques, operation COPA, scan technology improvement in application process and WFYI, the info channel that has not only improved residents' lives but also eased the pathways of communication.

Information regarding the recent management strategies of Section 8 and public housing services is given. Agencies have increased their payment standards from 97 to 110 percent, streamlined the lease up processes for owners and tenants, and instigated an aggressive outreach program to owners.

Three professionals in public housing policy and welfare reform discuss its interrelatedness. In addition they address the need for changes by housing authorities to better correlate with changes brought about by welfare reform.

Local housing authorities face challenges but their are also programs in place to help fight those challenges. Housing authorities can promote the low income housing tax credit to encourage builders to provide for low-income families. What federal tax dollars are still available should be spent on improving existing public housing.

Neighborhood Networks is a community-based program that aims to boost the self-sufficiency, employability and economic independence of low-income public housing households and elderlies by offering onsite access to computer and training resources. Developed by the Office of Multifamily Housing of the Dept of Housing and Urban Development in 1995, the initiative sets up computerized learning centers that offer instruction in typing, word processing and computer training as well as basic education and job training. Those who participate are given access to job data banks, online civic and government forums, health and community resources information and techniques on micro-enterprise development.

A growing number of housing authorities with shrinking budgets are adopting strategies that involve community building. This approach directs the energy and efforts of public housing residents toward the fight against poverty and the creation of a supportive social environment. It seeks to transform residents from passive recipients of services to active and responsible leaders in their communities. It encourages residents to set and pursue constructive goals for the community instead of remaining dependent and feeling victimized. Community building programs may include such activities as computer education for residents, parent monitoring of school performance of neighborhood children, child care to allow mothers to join the workforce, and the creation of businesses by residents.

Housing and community development agencies can foster stable, aesthetically attractive housing facilities and viable communities. Examples abound dispelling the negative assumptions about government assisted developments while proving that government and public/private partnerships can succeed. The Journal of Housing and Community Development cited housing authorities that were able to contribute to good housing and community development. These include projects in Santa Barbara, CA; Duluth, MN; Capitola, CA; San Jose, CA; San Diego, CA; and Jersey City, NJ. Other worthy projects are those in York, PA; Sacramento, CA; Portland, OR; New York, NY; and San Luis Obispo, CA.

The housing authority of Atlanta, GA, is determined to reinvent public housing in its territory. Through the Olympic Legacy program, the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) plans to redevelop or renovate most of its 42 communities, majority of which are sited on major real estate in the city. The program will eradicate about 5,000 of its 15,000 apartment units and replace them with new communities that will cater to a smaller, mixed-income population. In time with this initiative, AHA Exec Dir Renee Lewis Glover is experimenting with a new management approach. Realizing that the low-income community cannot be fully serviced by the authority, management has decided to privatize some of its services.

Troubled housing communities are the result of inefficient management practices and failure to comply with policies and procedures. Unfortunately, when a property becomes troubled, turning it around can be quite costly and difficult. Nevertheless, there are certain actions that housing authorities, management companies or owners can do to return it to performance level. Administrators should have control over the types of applicants they accept. Selection involves looking at their credit and criminal history records, landlord references, and other checks. Administrators should also learn how to handle problem residents by citing violations or evicting them. Administrators should also retain the good residents. A well-trained security force should also be formed.

Housing and community development authorities need alternative approaches to low-income housing as a result of the uncertainty over the role of the federal government in public housing funding. In Alexandria, VA, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, (ARHA) evaluated an older public housing development, the Samuel Madden Homes, with the help of a consulting team led by EDAW Inc. After analysis of resident data plus study of redevelopment and rehabilitation alternatives, ARHA decided to opt for mixed-density redevelopment.

The trend towards budget reductions is compelling administrative agencies associated with housing and community development to find ways of achieving management and housing stock improvements. The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), for instance, has unveiled a cost-cutting and reorganization plan called 'Blueprint.' Introduced by Sec. Henry C. Cisneros, this plan proposes the reduction of the HUD workforce from 11,900 to just 7,500 by the start of the 21st century and the integration of 60 HUD programs into three block grants in the latter part of the 1990s. The National Assn. of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, for its part, has come up with its 'Housing and Community Development Program Proposals' which also favor the consolidation of programs into a flexible formula grant. The association is also recommending the deregulation of local housing authorities.

The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) proposed 'Reinvention' Blueprint addresses many of the challenges confronting the low-income housing and community development agencies. This proposal advocates the use of tenant-based housing vouchers to enable low-income families to determine where they want to live. Aside from creating a sense of freedom among residents, it will compel local housing authorities (LHAs) to improve and properly maintain their facilities since they will be competing with housing units on the market. Under this system, LHAs will be expected to operate as effectively and as efficiently as real estate management organizations in the private sector. To be able to transform themselves for this new challenge, LHAs will need the help and support of the HUD.

The Lorin Farr Subdivision is a prototype housing community in Ogden, UT. Unlike other housing programs, this project combines low-income housing tax credit renters and home owners in a single-family environment. Ogden officials are expecting that other development initiatives will emulate this feature, given the currently increasing housing costs. To faciliate flexibility and creativity in the design and planning of the 24-house community, which was only 4.5 acres small, a unique Infill Zoning ordinance was introduced. This allowed narrower streets and smaller lot sizes. Although the project was completed in merely 240 days, the houses are of exquisite quality. The design also features a neighborhood park, wrought iron fencing and a landscape buffer along a major thoroughfare.

This article discusses the impact of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibilty Act of 1998 on the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, or FSS. Issues discussed include Section 8 vouchers and certificates for public housing units, FSS program sizes, and funding by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development of FSS programs.

The way by which Housing and Urban Development (HUD) makes strides in modernizing all its key business systems and transforms its information technology to adapt to emerging technologies is described.

A housing manager shares his experience working at Milford Redevelopment & Housing Partnership and the way by which he reshaped the organization by accomplishing high level of productivity.

A housing authority holds a public trust to provide quality housing at very low cost to those who are least able to find it in the private market. Some of the technical functions associated with public housing are discussed in brief.

The Regional Housing Center and Administration Building in McMinnville is a one-stop resource center for rebuilt affordable housing designed to use environmentally-friendly materials and techniques to the maximum extent. A work-friendly environment for staff, clients and guests has been achieved through planned staff areas and a well-lit courtyard.

At NAHRO's conference in Seattle, Cushing Dolbeare, founder of the National low-income housing coalition complimented the local housing authorities for being the exclusive providers of housing to the extremely poor. Various issues of LHAs, like seeking support from the Congress and NAHRO are featured.

The Supreme Court upheld the right of local housing authorities to evict for criminal or drug activity whether or not the tenant had knowledge of it.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 housing policy is condemned for destabilizing Philadelphia-area neighborhoods. As particularly noted, this financial assistance program does not promote affordable housing, restoration or revitalization of substandard properties in mixed-income neighborhoods.

Housing experts are divided over the issue of the role of local housing authorities (LHAs). One side of the debate contends that the sole responsibility of LHAs is to provide decent, affordable housing to low-income families. However, the other camp argues that housing authorities should also provide support and/or services to these families. The Lynn Housing Authority in Lynn, MA, subscribes to the latter idea. Aside from providing shelter, it tries to promote economic independence and self-sufficiency among residents. This is not to promote what critics label as a 'dependency culture,' but simply to make it possible for families to become empowered. LHAs that are financially constrained can still help improve the economic situations of public housing residents by partnering with other agencies.

The author argues that creating an asset management focus for local housing authorities (LHAs) would be detrimental to their efficiency. Since LHAs lack the power to control financial operations and revenue, they are ill suited to implement strategies for rectifying budget shortfalls between operating expenses and collected revenues.

The arrival of a new era in public housing is compelling local housing authorities (LHAs) to preserve their primary function of providing America's poor with safe, decent and sanitary housing. This new era is marked by deregulation, welfare program reforms, shrinking funding and greater scrutiny by politicians and the public. It requires LHAs to transform themselves from mere managers of housing programs to developers and implementors of social service programs. Housing authorities will need to support the poor as they make the transition from dependency to self-sufficiency. However, to survive in the new environment, they will also have to become familiar with private sector strategies and to run themselves like business organizations.

The Dept of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public and Indian Housing has delayed implementation of changes to the Multifamily Tenant Characteristics System beyond Sept 2000. Changes to the system will enable data on public housing programs to be managed more effectively.